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quote:Okay i've started to notice a strange phenomenon during my practice sessions. Sometimes I feel like I might be about to phase, or obe, or I'm viewing hypnagogic imagery, and then I will "snap back". This snapping back is something like being in a daydream and then realizing where you are in real life. It's sort of a sudden change in your focus of awareness.

Yes, that's what you should be experiencing. It's a distinct shift in your focus of awareness. And there is no mistaking it too. Like, you are not placed in a situation where you are left wondering did you make the shift or not.

The reason why you currently keep snapping-back, is due to your protective sense of awareness kicking in. It's not something you can consciously control as the protection aspect operates on a very base level. But it does stop happening the more you practice. As your protective sense of awareness gets used to the shift, it becomes a case of, yawn, here we go again.

quote:What I realized is that every time I snap back it actually feels like a very subtle, quick movement down and to the left. After it happens I feel totally awake, just looking at the backs of my eyelids, my awareness centered behind my eyes. But if I drift off again, my awareness moves up and to the right.

Again, this is how it should feel. Although I only mainly feel an upwards movement, with just a slight hint of a twist to the right.

quote:Once it moves there, if I can regain control without snapping back, I get all sorts of astral and dream-like symptoms. I may get astral sight, or if not I can easily visualize and actually see whatever I visualize (ordinarily my visualization is the pits)

At first the whole situation can be a bit of a muddle. But after a while you will be able to distinctly recognise the different states of conscious-awareness as you phase through them smoothly.

The point at which your focus of attention is completely directed inwards, this is Focus 10. Following which you then start to see all kinds of abstract movement (or hypnagogic imagery as you term it) this is Focus 12.

If you are in the position where, like you say, you can visualise and actually SEE what you are visualising, this is Focus 22. Note: Focus 22 is basically the same state of consciousness as Lucid Dreaming: only with a very much greater sense of mental control.

Also, Focus 22 is the first proper realm of conscious awareness where thought equals direct action. So, as you have discovered, it is easy to visualise anything simply by thinking about seeing it, and it immediately materialises.

quote:A couple of things are interesting about this.1) it absolutely cannot be forced. I only realize it has happened after I snap back. During the process it all seems perfectly natural. I can't reproduce it if I actually try to move my awareness.

That's right, and this part of it I find ever so tricky to explain. You cannot will yourself to have the experience. It's something you mentally allow yourself to become open to.

It's like where I've tried to explain it before by saying that Astral Projection is not about finding the right projection technique, but more to do with developing the right kind of mental understanding. Techniques can be very useful but, ultimately, I believe their effectiveness stems from them acting as a kind of mental primer that serves to kick-start the natural process.

quote:2) I'm wondering if this has something to do with the "Brain Method"

I don't know what the Brain Method is exactly. Someone coined the term a while ago and it seems to have stuck. What I can say for sure, however, is that what you are describing are characteristics of the beginning stage of the Phasing process.

If you keep practicing you will find that you will be able to ultimately make a complete smooth transition from Physical to Astral.

quote:3) When people access memories, or try to imagine, they either look up and to the right, or up and to the left. I can't remember which is which, but one is to remember facts and one is to imagine something. I wonder if this awareness shift is related to accessing a different part of my brain.

This phenomenon can vary between different people. I'm not sure if they are linked in any way. But the awareness shift you feel is due to the shift in your focal point of awareness. As it shifts it gives a sensation of movement like you were travelling in a particular direction.

If you keep practicing to the point where you can reach the Astral fairly reliably and keep your thoughts/emotions in check; you will be able to contact other members of your Astral Family who I'm sure will only be too happy to explain and give demonstrations and/or exercises that will show you how the Mind is a separate entity from the physical-body and the physical brain.

>> 1) it absolutely cannot be forced. I only realize it has happened after I snap back. During the process it all seems perfectly natural. I can't reproduce it if I actually try to move my awareness. <<

I'd agree that it can't be forced, but there is a "navigational tool" you might try. Using this tool is in my view a way to "reproduce it."

We seem to be able to shift our focus of attention from one area of consciousness to another using "feelings." You can think of the "feeling" of moving up and to the right as an indication that you are shifting your focus of attention from physical reality to a nonphysical one. One that's, conceptually, located a little up and to the right of your physical body.

Using such feelings as a means of navigating is one of the "tricks" I teach folks. If after relaxing at the beginning of your session you remember the feeling of moving up and to the right, to the point of actually re-experiencing that feeling, I'd say that you are causing your focus of attention to shift to a "location" up and to the right of your physical body.

Yeah, I'd agree that you can't "force" this to happen, but I'd suggest there may still be a way you can intentionally cause it to happen, to "reproduce it." And if that's the case the more you become aware of the various feeling qualities associated with moving up and to the right, the more of those qualities you'll be able to remember to the point of re-experiencing them. In my view when you can remember/re-experience those feelings easily, you can cause that shift to that "location."

Also, there is a feeling quality or set of feeling qualities associated with "being in that location" as opposed to "moving to that location." Remembering the feelings of "being there" to the point of re-experiencing them is a way to "be there."

I had a suspicion that this actually was the beginning of phasing but i wasn't quite sure. Bruce, I really like the way you describe the process "remembering the feeling". In the past, I've tried to actually recreate the movement and that never worked. I can't actually move my point of awareness. But I can remember the feeling of moving sometimes and that works much better. I think the most difficult part is "trying not to try". It's a very delicate balance of letting go enough to drift, but not enough to lose consciousness. Metaphorically, I'd say I have to tread water and let the current take me. It doesn't work if I swim...

okay i've started to notice a strange phenomenon during my practice sessions. Sometimes I feel like I might be about to phase, or obe, or I'm viewing hypnagogic imagery, and then I will "snap back". This snapping back is something like being in a daydream and then realizing where you are in real life. It's sort of a sudden change in your focus of awareness. What I realized is that every time I snap back it actually feels like a very subtle, quick movement down and to the left. After it happens I feel totally awake, just looking at the backs of my eyelids, my awareness centered behind my eyes. But if I drift off again, my awareness moves up and to the right. Once it moves there, if I can regain control without snapping back, I get all sorts of astral and dream-like symptoms. I may get astral sight, or if not I can easily visualize and actually see whatever I visualize (ordinarily my visualization is the pits)

A couple of things are interesting about this.1) it absolutely cannot be forced. I only realize it has happened after I snap back. During the process it all seems perfectly natural. I can't reproduce it if I actually try to move my awareness.

2) I'm wondering if this has something to do with the "Brain Method"

3) When people access memories, or try to imagine, they either look up and to the right, or up and to the left. I can't remember which is which, but one is to remember facts and one is to imagine something. I wonder if this awareness shift is related to accessing a different part of my brain.